I use Microsoft Paint -- old-fashioned and basic, but pretty useful. If you'd like me to try other ideas let me know. I'd be happy to but can't promise to do anything complicated in a hurry because I have a couple of clients who think I'm working for them. I mean I'm working for a couple of clients right now. Not on design, that's not my professional field, just a personal pleasure :-). Also I think I'm in a different time zone, yes? It's 4.20 pm here.

Hi jessicashouse! We love the idea of dark shutters on your home. They will truly tie in the brick and will most certainly stand out.

As far as the style goes, we wouldn't recommend a simple panel style. We would take a more country route with a Board and Batten style. We have 4 different styles of Board and Batten shutters and we offer our Shutter Snapshot application so that you could see what they would look like prior to installation. You could upload the front facing picture provided above and we will render it with the proper style shutters and color you choose!

http://www.timberlane.com/resource-center/shutter-snapshot/

Hi Timberlane! I knew you'd find this one sooner or later.

By the bye, I used a very dark brown above. Almost black but not quite. I think black might just be a bit off.

Rina, we couldn't help ourselves! This is a lovely!

PS The more I look at the beautiful colours of your house, the more I think: "Don't paint the brick!"

Timberlane: it is, isn't it?

what I've notice here is it's flat and the brick has too busy texture and lack of dimension. If you are brave enough to paint darker shade below window pick darker shade from the brick, and use plants shrub to create contrast and dimension that will lit-up to whole picture because it's like rectangle shape on horizon right now. reduce busy texture add contrast dimension and flow to it. then whole picture will be perfect....

I think your house is quite charming. White shutters and paint the iron railing white and a warm red or color of your choicethe front door would give it a finished look. I think its the landscaping that needs attention. You have a nice curved walk way and grounds. The 2 bushes by the front entrance don't do it. A nice landscape of different heights and textures with a splash of color would turn this house out.

Charming. Now add white shutters, stair railing and a complementary door color from color in the landscaping. Nice job Nattapon Landscaping Design.

White may be too bright against the color of the brick. What about a Khaki or subtle tan, fos5?

jessicashouse: Whoa. Guess I'd replace windows too if I were you! :) Have you considered just doing plain windows, and adding the shutters? The mullions inside the windows may be adding to the "busy" visual given the variety of brick colors. Also, I rather mistyped last night....by sidelights, I meant the light fixtures on each side of the entry. If you got some that hang down, rather than project up, it seems that would help connect entry to staircase a bit more. (I only thought of it as in your picture the top of the existing lights go up over the line created by the trim.) Rina's lantern in her picture has the bottom of the fixture about at the same level as the bottom of the wreath, and illustrates what I was getting at. Love the very dark brown, almost black color she talked about as well. Gives the look without introducing a lot of yet another color like black.

Oh, Nattapon, beautiful work!

When thinking about painting the brick I have been looking at a couple different color families. I really like (a) the mossy type green color for brick with cream trim and wood/glass door (with maybe stained wooden shutters) white windows, (b) a shade of light tan brick with white windows/trim (dont know what color shutters?), (c) try a shade of grey with white trim and windows with a darker grey shutter and wood door (or color door?). The problem is--I cant visualize what it will look like to chose? i attached some examples of these color schemes... ANY suggestions and opinions welcome :)

blue/grey type family...

fos5--they had white shutters up when we moved in, it did not look very good ESPECIALLY with the awful yellow fascia!

landscaping is on our list. i know it makes a HUGE diffence, once we get money saved after this project we will :) better, working efficient windows is the first priority (which will happen asap) but i want to make sure to pick the right color/look to go with the whole plan

Start by painting out that yellow facia. (white). Did you get a professional stone/brick mason's advise on painting the bricks?

Painting brick can end up a nightmare-peeling, ugly texture etc. Your brick looks nice,just need some added suggested touches and your home will look lovely. Nattapon's picture really looks nice.

I like all of these ideas. But don't forget to add some landscape lighting. Even something as minimal as 2 uplights on each side (one on each corner and one on each trellis) and possibly a couple of path lights near the steps would look fantastic at night with the new additions. No solar lights. Go with quality.

I agree with Carol Rammuno

Painting brick is really not so hard and brick is very porous, so it takes paint very well. As long as there are no moisture problems, such as moisture migrating from inside to the outside, it would be best for you to use an Elastomeric paint. This is the product that masonry hi rises and hotels use throughout the world for its expansion and contraction capabilities year after year. i would first though check to see if its ever been sealed. there are clear silicone brick sealers on the market and they are NOT paintable. a quick test is to do a quick squirt with a hose and see if any water is wicked into the brick. If not, you should have it tested further. With that being said... I think your brick is great as it is. I also believe the wrought iron MUST stay. It is awesome. it creates quite the staircase.
I would change the fascia and soffit to a color such as "wicker" or "clay", windows come in the same colors... and possibly paint the iron the same. I personally love looking out my windows and looking through mullions is terrible! If you enjoy that too, I would put that decision above fashion or style any day. Landscaping with more colors would go a long way too.
I think after these small changes are done your home will be more appealing to you.... and that is most important.
Also, a new architectural style roof of a different color isn't the end of the world, especially if you have saved some money not doing other remodeling.
Thank you for your time,
cheers,
R. Rodgers

I love you home! Landscaping is the most important thing you need here. The plan Nattapon Landscape Design submitted is great. Layered, out, and away from the home. I think a color other than white would be better on your guttering and soffit. It's drawing attention to the length of the house and the short depth between the top of the window and the eave. Lower the light fixtures and bring them closer to the door. Go with something large, maybe large brass lanterns. The door, the lights and the steps/rails should be one focal point. If it all blends it will give it more visual height. I would do a lighter color on the handrail that would coordinate with the door. If you decide to paint, which would be beautiful. There's so many architectural features, I'd stay with a very monochromatic color theme. Similar to the first house in your "blue/gray type family post. I stayed with the traditional window panes and put in a door with windows too. I'd love to see the finished project!

Oh I'd add shutters too. Good quality wood or wood-look shutters. Use the ones with hinges and maybe the "S" hooks (?) I'll try to attach a photo. The shutters with the hinges will give you some dimension on the front of the house so it doesn't look "flat" all the way across. It will make it more interesting from the curb.

I keep thinking of things as I go back and look at the photo of your house. Sorry for all the posts. If you use wooden windows you could paint them a color too and that would also add more interest.

Hi again. I still far prefer the presence of the brick, but here's a painted version that hope will help you.

Rina's post is wonderful. And gives a great visual of a more monochromatic cold scheme which helps with the overal continuity of the house. It looks like since she added the shutters you may not need to move your fixtures. I'm not certain if she moved the one that's in the picture now or if it's the original one. But it looks a little larger. Looking at this picture, I would paint the handrails and do something with the steps. With the addition of the landscaping with will be beautiful! I would definitely use mullions in the windows. This picture gives a little bit of an ide of how it would look without them and I think they would add to the cottage charm of the house.

Thanks Daarnold. I agree about using the mullions. I should have drawn attention to the non-mullion experiment, but with you lot it's not really necessary. This is a house that needs restrained detail, and the mullions provide that. Also agree that with this look the handrails (at least) are rather alarming. I didn't have the time to paint them. Very bitty work! I happen to love this colour green, in spite of my preference for the brick. Jessicashouse, I also took an easy option for the door, for which you might prefer a more contrasting colour. I think natural wood would be good, but I'm an old-fashioned kind of person. Note that I also darkened the gutter line. I have no idea what those little black squares on walls are -- ventilation for a basement? We don't have a lot of basements in my distant neck of the woods. But ideally they shouldn't stick out that much, though they don't need serious camouflage.

If you prefer another colour, I really don't think your roof is a major hindrance. It would work with many colours -- I think it's beautiful. I live with orange tiles. I'm jealous.

Yes, the little brown things are vents (there is a large crawl space under the house on one side). Thank you so much for all of your help everyone! I think for now I will not worry with painting the brick. So...I think the majority is to stick to the same style of windows in white (just the energy efficient new windows replacing the old single pane wooden windows) with white trim/saphets/fascia and add shutters. Im still not sure about brown for the shutters but maybe a stained wood and I REALLY like the shutters with the hooks shown above--IF they are in my price range! :) Landscaping is definitely on the list once we save up enough money after replacing the windows. Thank you so much---any other suggestions are welcome and appreciated! One day I would still like to paint the brick probably a mossy, light fishcamp green type color...but for now I think these updates will help

Enjoy, Jessica -- and please post update pictures.

I think when you get ready you need to contact Lantern & Scroll to replace the lights. I think that will really be the cherry on top for the exterior renovation. (You can find them on here or Facebook). I think this one would look beautiful!

Agree the brick could be balanced with good landscaping and shutters Black and Brown is striking together . THE WINDOW STYLE IS FINE if on a budget you could save money and forget the grill work...

Nattapon Landscape Design--What type of colors, plants would you recommend for either of the options below (none of them are decided yet--just options). Should I stay away from so much green since there is so much yard/grass?

it will not be shingles or siding...just painted brick. this just helps to show a little texture for the brick

I think I like the light, subtle effect of the bottom left best. Nice work ... however, I love the floating shrubs. Wouldn't it be fun if we could have floating shrubs in the garden? I don't have any problem with houses blending into their surroundings, however, unless your intention is to make the house stand out.

The stairs are still a bit of a problem with the house painted; the white railing doesn't seem to help, does it? This version has the bannisters painted in the trim colour, and the risers only painted (or tiled?) to the wall colour. It does soften the look, but ideally I think they need to be redesigned, or the area reshaped with planting -- see Nattapon's beautiful design above. I see that he seems to have extended and widened the lower stairs.

I do like the lower left body color, were you to paint. Hey Rina, what if they did the darker shutters with the light color, with the dark stair rails? Can you do? As a try, could you paint out the gutter line in the house body color? Am still not a fan of the white line, given how close it is to the main body of the house.

And if there are floating shrubs, I'm in! Variegated leaf colors along the foundation, and a break in the lawn with beds, and white flowering trees on each side would be traditional, and give some options for other colored permanent/annual plantings. Plantings cheated up to the stairs will mitigate the look that they are disproportionately standing alone, I think.

Okey dokey, Nwduck. Looks pretty good, definitely balances the stairs better. I think you're right that planting will provide them with a context and then no redesign would be required.

You have such a talent, Rina! Pieris japonica (lively colored leaves--the type with creamy white bell shaped flowers) would be very pretty with this.

The stairs are just too prominent. Maybe adding shrubs against front of house will make them the focal point instead

Thank you, Nwduck. That's sweet of you. Yes, Curt, I like the way you put it. Jessicashouse: you may note that I made the shutters wider on the big window and went back to one bigger lamp to the right of the door. I do think it looks better.

If you want to get crazy and change it up completely use a new veneer system called enduramax.

Thanks to Jordan i visited enduramax, and liked what i saw, but still unsure whether this is better or even different from/to stucco

It's just different. Provides a few other features that you probably are not specifically looking for...water management in the wall and more importantly an additional insulation value of R13.6. These two combined and the fact that stucco is stucco and this is Masonry make it different. They are just two different looks...that's all

I think you ought to keep the brick and add the properly sized, functional shutters discussed by many above. What really catches my eye next is your stairs. IMO they are too narrow and steep from the front. Have you thought about having a much wider base so you end up with a small porch? Let me see what I can find to illustrate what I mean by wider at the base. I don't think you need to end up with a covered porch on front, but that might be a good way to enhance your entry. This photo is a different style house, but shows what I mean about changing the stairs

The other photo shows the stairs brought all the way across the home:

Here is another one where you just have a small covered entry (you would use a different style) but the stairs start off wider, then have a landing and then slightly more narrow. It makes a much more welcoming entry IMO

there are choices some red leaves shrubs Japanese barberry, sand cherry shrub, hydrangea, red bud,oak leaves hydrangea or you can use double file viburnum hosta.you can use this color palette idea to choose those plants regarding to your location and You might find them at your local nursery

Nattapon, I wish you practised in Johannesburg!

Deep maroon shutters, light gray door, widened front steps curved out at the bottom, extend rail (also curved), widened front walk, black light fixtures, a bit of landscaping.

Often times we see many homeowners who place shutters on homes that are not properly fitted and are too skinny for their windows. We would very much recommend that they are "properly sized," which means that each shutter measures out to be half the size of the window. It definitely makes a difference in the curb appeal!

Also, love the idea of maroon shutters!